Thursday, August 16, 2007

Fetus Finds 100 Friends On Facebook

IT already has its own Facebook page and more than 100 people want to be its friend, but Bubba Waring, described by its mother as "the world's most famous fetus", hasn't actually been born yet.

Sydney couple Claire Gillis and Luke Waring, who are expecting their first child in three months, initially turned to the social networking site to keep their family and friends updated on the pregnancy.

But instead of creating a profile under her own name, Ms Gillis said she thought it would be better to do it from her unborn child's perspective.

"We have friends and family all over the world, so we're using it for them, to post updates on ultrasounds, scans and what it has been doing all week," she said. "So that's how it started."

At present, 25 people are listed as the baby's "friends", but publicity surrounding the profile has prompted others to come forward and apply to be part of Bubba Waring's (as yet unstarted) life.

Ms Gillis said she and her husband had been amazed by the reaction. "I'm considering whether I should just open it up to the public because I'm just receiving the most ridiculous number of emails and friend requests," she said.

"We're not going to find out its gender, so it'll be a surprise to everybody when the baby is born."

But the lack of information hasn't stopped some people from taking bets on the unborn child's vital details. "I'm running a bit of a poll on the Facebook page and one of the questions is, 'Am I a boy or a girl?' and the resounding response so far is that it's a boy," Ms Gillis said.

But regardless of whether Bubba Waring keeps his or her Facebook page after its birth, its loyal public will be given a final update.

"Once he or she is born, we'll post updates of what the sex is and what the name is and all those kinds of details," Ms Gillis said.